Eight minutes
by ferggirl99
Summary: Deeks and Kensi get themselves into some... interesting predicaments. Here's one. "He just wouldn't be Marty Deeks if he didn't try some ridiculously daring move under the guise of saving them all the messy paperwork that she supposed would come if she splattered on the pavement. And he told her she was a crazy ninja assassin." Complete
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This will be a little two-shot, I think. At least, that's what I've got written. Just a plot bunny that bounded into my head as I was contemplating absurd situations they could put these two in to generate funny lines and awesome tension. Finally finished it, so I figured why not toss it up? Still on my own, so any mistakes are mine. I own nothing, they're not mine. Otherwise, Deeks would be throwing grapes at me from across the room.

* * *

The hot wind was whistling past her ears, swirling her hair in front of her face as Junior Agent Kensi Blye strained to catch what her partner was saying.

"…why not? … madman … pitched roof … could possibly go wrong?"

She got the gist, although he was muttering under his breath, the same wind tousling his blond mop of hair as he glared down at her. Kensi grit her teeth against a smart-ass reply. Seeing as Detective Marty Deeks' hands on her forearms were the only thing between her and the sidewalk four stories down, she figured now wasn't the right time to piss him off. Besides, she could tell by his slightly panicked tone (and his lack of trying) that he did not have the leverage to pull her up.

"Obviously, I wasn't planning to be kicked off the roof," she said, fighting to retain a solid grip on his arms as she dangled uncomfortably. But really, she knew this was her fault. She hadn't been expecting their middle-aged suspect to be agile enough to take out her feet before she could adjust her position on the ridge of the roof. The seconds after that were a blur of doing everything possible to slow her fall. She'd managed to grab the gutter as she slid off the edge and had held on for dear life.

Deeks, who'd taken a concealed position behind the clock tower that dominated the building's roof, had chased the suspected arms dealer away with a few well-aimed shots, but hadn't pursued. In fact he'd uncharacteristically frozen when he came around the corner and had seen her hanging there. She honestly wasn't sure how long she could have managed that position. The sharp edge of the gutter had hurt and she'd felt her fingers start to go numb, plus there was a metallic groaning sound that did not bode well for her continued survival. So Kensi had yelled a warning to him that the gutter was dubious, and he'd snapped out of it, responding with a distracted comment that she shouldn't have eaten that Twix in the car as he simultaneously called headquarters and looked for something secure to hold his own weight.

Because, really, there was no question that he was about to attempt a rescue, no matter how many weak protests she voiced about doubling the risk. He just wouldn't be Marty Deeks if he didn't try some ridiculously daring move under the guise of saving them all the messy paperwork that she supposed would come if she splattered on the pavement. And he told her she was a crazy ninja assassin. Well, she was, when it came down to it…

Anyway, that left them here. He'd carefully put his phone on speaker and then worked his way over to an exhaust vent, a little metal chimney sticking up part-way down the slanted roof and about three feet past where she'd gone down. They were both unsure that it could hold his weight, let alone their combined total, but a few tests had shown it was stronger than it looked.

So he was lying stomach down, angled back toward her with his feet locked around it. She'd done her best to inch in his direction, and when their hands had finally met the relief she'd felt had been immense and immediate. She knew she wasn't wrong – he was in more danger now than he had been a minute ago – but feeling his hands wrap around her arms and take some of the pressure off of her own tired limbs, she couldn't find it in her to urge him back to safety.

* * *

When he finally had Kensi secure in his grasp, Deeks immediately tried to heft her up onto the roof. But between his awkward, angled position and her relative dead weight, they'd scuttled that plan quickly. He had been reduced to informing headquarters that they were going to need help, and just hanging on to her while fighting the panic that still blurred the edges of his vision. _He was not going to lose Kensi._ And that knot in his stomach and rushing sound in his ears would just have to accept that.

His phone was in the gutter, a foot or two from where they were clasped together. It had been silent for the last 30 seconds, and frankly, Deeks was about done with waiting. His legs ached already, and his arms were starting to get sore.

"Eric, any time now. I would love to hear a plan," he ground out.

There was some indiscriminate but frantic muttering, and then Eric finally came on the line.

"We're ah… what? No! Not there! … I mean, we're almost… are those the blueprints? Bring them up! Hurry!" Eric's voice was tight and his commands were snapped out. If Deeks hadn't been so terrified he'd have reprimanded the normally laid-back tech for his tone to Nell and the others. But right now he just wanted some damn help.

"Mister Deeks? Detective, can you hear me?" The unmistakably crisp, calm voice was Hetty's. Someone must have summoned her up to the control room when the situation became clear. Deeks wasn't sure if that should make him feel better or worse.

Kensi spoke suddenly. "In case we can pick up the trail, suspect headed due south, probably exited the roof via the southeast stairwell."

Deeks glared at her. Did she really think anyone gave a shit about that right now?

"What, I was staring up at his ass as he ran away, I noticed," she said. Her quick flush under his gaze told him that she got his point.

"Thank you, Ms. Blye. I have informed LAPD." Hetty's calm voice gave nothing away, but Deeks could image the ghost of a relieved smile beneath her tired eyes. After all, he admitted to himself, if Kensi was still trying to accomplish the mission, she wasn't feeling particularly hopeless. "Speaking of which, the fire department is 10 minutes out, and Mr. Callen and Sam are 15." _Fifteen minutes?_ Deeks' arms screamed in protest, and he closed his eyes for a moment to try and school his features and not show his concern to Kensi. Hetty wasn't done, however. "We will need to do something in the meantime. Mr. Deeks, there is a small window about four feet to the left of your position. Can you and Ms. Blye slowly and carefully adjust your position so that she can try to rest her weight there?"

Deeks tried to judge the distance from his awkward angle. He certainly couldn't swing her over without losing his own foothold, but maybe…

"Kens, can you try to get your elbows in the gutter? Use your forearms to help move?" He asked quietly, knowing the wind and street noise would keep the team from hearing his questions.

She looked up at him then, and he felt her hands squeeze his arms as if testing her own strength. "I'll need your help to get there," she said with gritted teeth. "But the numbness has gone down since we changed positions, so yeah, I can."

"Ok. Hetty? We'll try that now," he said shortly, before putting all of his focus on Kensi.

"You're going to have to climb me and hope that chimney holds," he said. Later, he would enjoy the many implications of what he was saying. Right now, he just wanted her on solid ground. "That's the only way we can do this and still have a safety net if you slip."

"Safety net?" she scoffed. "I'm pretty sure the fire trucks have not yet arrived with a kiddie pool for me to land in. And who says I'll slip?"

"I'm serious," he snapped, and they stared at each other for another moment before he continued. "If you lose your grip, I'll still have mine on you. And if the chimney gives way, you'll have a grip on me so I can use my hands to hold us on the roof."

"As long as both don't happen at the same time," she added softly.

"Yeah, but what are the chances of our luck being THAT bad?" he grunted with a touch of his normal humor. "Get started, my legs are going to give out in about five minutes."

She took a breath and moved first one, and then the other hand to just above his elbows as he curved his arms slightly, helping her. Once she nodded at him that she was secure, he released her forearms and reached further, grabbing her biceps. It was brutal and slow, and mostly silent, with Kensi concentrating fully on her task and Deeks doing his best to retain a solid hold on her as she did so while keeping an ear out for signs of distress – from her or the chimney. There was a sheen of sweat on her face, and Deeks could feel the back of his neck getting damper by the second. He watched her grit her teeth and find more strength as she inched up his arms and got her hands up to hook onto his shoulders.

He was wearing his leather jacket, and let loose a few curse words as the material started to bunch up and slide under her weight. Her elbows had been almost clear of the edge of the gutter, but the slide set them back about six inches. As he clutched as her bare arms tightly enough to leave bruises, he said a short prayer of thanks that she had just worn a t-shirt today. They readjusted so her hands were beneath the sliding coat and his were under her arms, and with a final heave, she dug her elbows into the gutter. The change in position meant that their heads were now about level with each other.

"It's a damn good thing you're not ticklish," he whispered.

"I could say the same," she answered, panting a bit from the effort of holding her body weight up for this long. "But we may need to discuss deodorant. I want my hands back with no weird man smell."

His own laugh surprised him. He hadn't yet recovered from the feeling of her sliding down, away from him and safety, and the idea of anything being funny was in itself absurd. But since she'd put out the effort, he worked to respond in kind.

"Weird man smell? Oh, you mean the sexy aroma of Old Spice, leather, and that vanilla bodywash that someone left in the shower stall at the boathouse?" He was pretty sure that someone wasn't Sam or Callen, and he doubted that Hetty's flavor was vanilla.

The horizontal move was just as excruciating. Once they'd caught their breaths, Kensi wanted to just go, let go of him and sidle over under her own power to save time, but Deeks put his foot down.

"You told me the gutter was going. We can't expect it to hold under so much pressure," he reasoned. _And I'll be damned if I'm sacrificing the ability to be your safety net_, he added to himself. Instead, they alternated, each sliding inches to the left and then readjusting, until her eyes lit up.

"I feel it! There's something," she said and he heard her feet exploring, looking for purchase on the slick stone building. He peered around her, trying to see so that he could direct her efforts, and almost cried out in disappointment. The window was there, yes, and her feel were dancing along its bottom ledge, but it was a tiny round thing and the ledge was barely over an inch or two. Not nearly enough to hold her weight for long. She dug her toes in and looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"You're there, it's just... it's too small. You can't really stand on it," he said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. His arms were burning.

* * *

**A/N:** And... scene. It was tough finding a breaking spot, but I didn't want to throw 4,000 words at you all at once. Any thoughts are much appreciated, I'm rusty and love a little review love as much as the next girl.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Part two! Their poor aching arms, I'm so very mean. I won't make them keep waiting.

I have reviewers: **TaylenC** (very… honest), **SweetLu** (sorry for the nerves!), **Caritas1979** (yes, roofhanger! I had that thought too…), **kath46** (ha, sorry to make you wait), **Somnium1** (yay! That's what I was aiming for, a bit of realism), **Malia Amane** (so many people hanging!), **Nelly44** (your wish is my command), **Alexis** (sorry! Here!), **AliyahNCIS **(I think Deeks has a list somewhere), **Nidster502** (awww, so nice to hear), **bushy4 **(ooh! You think I'm funny!), **God'srider **(thanks and enjoy!), and **HeAt-StRoKe** (short and to the point) and special nod to **8 Dancing in the Rain 8**, who left a very thoughtful critique that made me take a hard look at this second chapter! I even had two guests take the time to leave me a note. So appreciated.

RE: Romance. Yes, I know it's not your typical loveable Densi fluff, but I didn't label it as such, because I wanted to try and write a plot situation. There's _always_ the potential for romance with these two, but it's not the focus here. Still, if you are paying attention, there are hints of it throughout.

/End "roofhanger" and a/n here. (hee)

* * *

_She dug her toes in and looked at him with a question in her eyes._

_"You're there, it's just... it's too small. You can't really stand on it," he said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. His arms were burning._

* * *

"The plan was never that she would stand there, Detective." Hetty's voice, cutting crisply through the tension, startled them both. He'd actually forgotten that they were still on speaker phone for the last few minutes. "Kensi, I would like you to kick in the window, clear as much glass as you can, and then get yourself inside."

Blue eyes met brown in astonishment. Deeks spoke first.

"Hetty, it took us five minutes to move four feet. How on earth is Kensi supposed to get enough momentum to break a window and not fall in the process?"

"I can do it," Kensi cut in, her determined reassurance doing nothing to calm the nasty feeling in the pit of Deeks' stomach. As if to underline that feeling, a gust of dry desert wind had them both coughing and blinking dust from their eyes. "Just hold onto me, partner," she said with a slight grimace.

"Always." _Well, that came out with a bit more intensity than I meant it to. _Deeks cleared his throat and stared down at her broken-in work boots. "I am glad that you didn't wear heels today, though. Much harder to break windows in." Her mouth twitched, and the moment passed, much to his relief.

Her fingers tightened around his shoulders, and in response he squeezed just a touch more to indicate that he was ready. She dug her right foot in on the tiny ledge, and swung the left back. Her first kick, as he had feared, bounced. The recoil threw her other foot off the ledge and her eyes widened in panic as she dropped a few inches. The shock of the sudden extra weight rippled through Deeks' body, and he tensed his legs, shoulders and arms to try and hold her steady. He could feel her fingers leaving bruises on his back.

"I've got you, Kens," he said, hoping it was true. "Try again."

The second and the third times were the same, and he was exhausted and about to call a timeout when her fourth kick was met by a crunching noise. Her smile was instant, and he whooped and updated Hetty as she attacked the window again. A few more blows and it shattered, her foot going through into the emptiness of the room beyond. As she carefully used the sole of her boot to clean the sharp edges off the window, Deeks watched the glass shards drift down four stories before exploding on the sidewalk, and he held on.

* * *

When she was sure she'd gotten as much of the glass out of her way as she could, Kensi adjusted her feet, putting more of her weight on the windowsill, which was now much wider. She chanced a look down, but her angle was all wrong. Curled around the gutter and Deeks as she was, the only thing she could see was the sidewalk, not the side of the building. _Ok, I have to do this blind. Sure. Why not?_ It was a bit of a stretch, but if Deeks lowered her so they were holding hands and not each other's shoulders, she should be able to hook her legs through the window and slide in. _Hopefully. Maybe. If nothing goes wrong._

Kensi grimaced and forced herself to stop that train of thought. She immediately slid into another one: It was odd, with more of her weight supported by her feet, it just felt like she and Deeks were in a funny sort of hug. She pretended it was true for an unguarded moment and closed her eyes, wishing she could will them both to safety. His scent was all around her, and… _He really has been using my vanilla body wash! No wonder I've had to replace it so often. Jerk._

"Well, Ms. Blye, Detective, what do you think?" Hetty's voice, tinny and tense through the speakerphone, brought her back to reality.

"The glass is clear, but it's going to be… interesting," Kensi said matter-of-factly. The angle was all wrong, and no one knew yet what was on the other side of the window. Still, she could feel Deeks' arms shaking with fatigue, and knew that they were running out of time.

Kensi stiffened, testing her muscles as she contemplated the best way to try to throw herself through a two-foot diameter hole that was 5 feet below her eye level. She tried to feel around the ledge with her feet, looking for the inside edge, but Deeks wasn't giving her much slack to work with. His hold had tightened while she was breaking the window and he'd never relaxed it. She turned to remind him, only to find his blue eyes very close to her face.

"Be very, very sure, Kensi." He had that solemn, intense look on his face again. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was..._ Kensi Blye, now is not the time. FOCUS_.

"Trust me, this is just like high school gym!" she said with a roll of her eyes and just a bit of bravado. No need to tell the world she was about to crash and burn.

Deeks narrowed his eyes. "You and I remember high school gym class very differently." And then he looked past her at something on the ground and his face cleared. For the first time in the last eight minutes, he genuinely smiled. She hadn't heard any sirens, so it couldn't be fire and rescue… Kensi wanted to twist so she could see, but Deeks moved first.

"Oh, holy hell," he sighed, laying his head against hers and murmuring into her hair. "That took them about four minutes longer than I thought it would. Hold whatever ninja assassin thought you were having, would you? The cavalry's here."

_Ah. So Sam and Callen, then. _

"I don't know how many traffic laws they broke, Hetty," Deeks said more loudly, "But Agents Callen and Hanna have just arrived on scene."

"Hetty's on the phone with Callen now," Eric's voice came over the line, relief palpable in each word, and Kensi made a mental note to give him a solid hug when she got back to the Mission. "The plan is that Sam will come up and secure Deeks on the roof, and Callen will head to the fourth floor to get Kensi through that window safely. Hang tight."

"Seriously?" Kensi couldn't suppress a snort at Eric's word choice. _Hang tight? _Deeks grinned in agreement. Her arms were screaming from the effort now, and she felt all out of balance and exposed. After a moment of hesitation, she muttered a pre-emptive "Sorry, Deeks," and pulled herself as far into him as she could, burying her head in his neck as she tried to think about anything besides how long it would take Sam and Callen to run up the stairs.

* * *

Deeks could sense Kensi's tiredness, and murmured encouragement as he watched the two agents swing out of the Dodge Charger and run up the steps. Callen paused to look up, assessing their position and throwing a rueful salute his way before disappearing inside. As her hair blew into his face, he gave himself a moment to be thankful that she was willing to take comfort from him. _Now I know, badass Blye only cuddles while defying death at awkward angles._

It felt like an hour, but was probably no more than sixty seconds before Sam exploded onto the roof, and Callen yelled up from the window below. They eased Kensi out of his arms by degrees, giving Callen a better and better grip on her lower legs. When he was holding her wrists just before she slid through the window, she looked up and grinned.

"See you on the other side, partner."

And then Sam told him to let go, Callen pulled her in, and she was gone. Only then did Deeks turn to look up at the big ex-SEAL.

"This could be very undignified, I think my legs have seized up around this pipe chimney thing," he admitted with a groan. He hadn't gotten muscle cramps this bad since the police academy.

Sam just rolled his eyes and lowered a harness (_because what Navy SEAL doesn't have a spare harness in the back of his car?_) for Deeks to pull up over his head and shoulders. At least he'd have help crawling up the side of the roof.

It _was_ undignified, completely, and for a moment Deeks entertained the notion that the whole thing had been a setup so that Eric could take satellite pictures of this moment and use them against him in their ongoing prank war. _Nah. He'd never go that far... I think. Kensi would kill him. Stone cold dead. _Once he'd reached the small path at the top, he stood up in one fluid motion, only to have all the blood rush out of his head and his legs give out from under him.

He blinked back to consciousness to see Sam looming over him.

"Really, Deeks? Eight minutes with the blood pooling in your head and you thought you could just pop up and walk away?"

Sam propped him up against the clock tower and they waited for his head to clear and his legs to stop shaking. With all danger removed, the adrenaline was starting to wear off and it finally hit him that he had literally held Kensi four stories in the air for more than five minutes. What if he'd slipped? What if he hadn't hooked his feet well enough? What if his palms had been sweaty or… oh god. _There were so many ways I could have killed her._

He was feeling distinctly nauseous.

Sam suddenly grinned, distracting Deeks from his misery. And because this was Sam, he was equal parts suspicious and concerned.

"What? Did I wet myself and you just noticed? Did you and Eric really set up a spy satellite to take incriminating pictures?"

"No, Deeks." Sam rolled his eyes at him. "I was just thinking that only Kensi or Callen would be stupid enough to chase someone on a pitched roof."

"Oh," Deeks relaxed a little. "True, but not necessarily funny."

"And only you, or sometimes me, would be two steps behind them, yelling at them to slow down, think it through." Sam paused and the piercing look in his eyes had Deeks squirming a bit. "Most partners would have tried to cut off the suspect at the other end, gone for the stairs. It wouldn't have worked, building this big you'd never beat the suspect there, but they would have tried. She made the decision to go on the roof, and the mistake of getting too close so that the suspect had the advantage. You, you found a safe place to get a good shot off and then managed to be right where your partner needed you to be."

Now Deeks was definitely uncomfortable. "Is this one of those weird bonding moments? Because honestly, I can probably walk now."

"Oh shut up and let me finish. Kensi's strong, but she'd never have lasted more than a few minutes on that gutter. It wasn't built to withstand that stress – if you hadn't been taking so much of her weight, the entire gutter would have come off five minutes ago."

A shudder ripped through him at the thought. Great, now he was going to have nightmares about gutters and partners and sidewalks, and his hands being suddenly empty...

But Sam wasn't done. "I'm just saying, Callen and I drove as fast as we did because every minute in something like this is agony. But you had it handled. You would have lasted until the fire trucks got here," Sam said with a smile in his voice. "Although they would absolutely have taken pictures as they hauled your ass up."

Deeks smiled a little then, looking down at the mass of fire engines and police cars that had pulled in three minutes after Callen and Sam. He probably knew half of them in some official capacity, and yeah, they would have wanted documentation of saving his ass.

His phone rang; it was Kensi. Speaking of… "Partner ass-saving hotline, press one for gratitude, press two for reward options."

"You like the roof that much?" she asked, trying to sound snarky and just sounding a little worried. "I'd have thought you were ready to come down."

"Just getting my legs back underneath me," he said with a nod at Sam, who stood up to scout the last bit of ridge they had to cover before the safety of the stairs. "How you feeling?" he asked softly.

"My arms are jelly, so if your legs are the same, I get it." Her voice was serious and full of the things he imagined she didn't want to say over the phone. _Thank you. I'm sorry. You're super hot and I don't know how I've gone this long without jumping you._ Ok, maybe not that last one. There was a pause before she added plaintively, "Callen's threatening to send me to get checked out by an ambulance if he has to wait anymore, though, so could you hurry up?"

"On my way," he said with a fond smile. "But I'm pretty sure you're buying drinks tonight."

She hung up and he laughed. Time to go. Now he just needed to find and destroy any photos of him in this harness.


End file.
